PBA slaps ₱100K fine on Powell, ₱75K on Blankley for Finals Game 3 officiating rant

The PBA has penalized Bay Area’s Myles Powell and Hayden Blankley for their derogatory remarks about league officiating on their social media accounts shortly after the Dragons absorbed an 82-89 beating in Finals Game 3.

The visitors, who were poised to secure their second win in the series after leading most of the way, fell victim to the Brgy. Ginebra’s ‘Never Say Die’ mantra and suffered the loss despite leading by 9, 75-66, halfway into the payoff period.

The Gin Kings now lead the best-of-seven series, 2-1.

Powell, the Dragons’ reserve reinforcement, was fined ₱100,000 for telling the PBA to ‘do better’ after a 28-12 disparity in the fouls called. He also insinuated that the referees played a key role in the results of the last 2 games.

“Something ain’t right, clearly the refs making the difference between who wins or not,” wrote the 25-year old American on his Twitter account.

Blankley, on the other hand, was fined ₱75,000 for stating that their Game 3 defeat was obviously “cooked”.

Both players appealed to the league to play a fair game.

The fines slapped on the two players were among the highest in recent years. The league previously slapped a ₱100,000 fine on Blackwater for prematurely conducting practices at the height of the pandemic.

League commissioner Willie Marcial bared that Powell and Blankley have apologized for their statements.